Yesterday Isabella managed to pull herself up to stand at the coffee table in the living room. I tried to get a picture; but she’d fallen before I could get the camera out.
Today I woke up feeling rotten, stuffy nose, sore throat, achy body. So Dom, sweet wonderful husband that he is, get up and fed Isabell her breakfast (peaches and barley) and dressed her and played with her, letting me get some very much appreciated extra winks. (Of course, it also helped that Isabella slept straight through until 6:30!!!)
Of course, I think there’s a universal law that says if daddy dresses the child, the child will be quite adequately dressed but the actual combination of clothes will be one that mom would never have put together. It’s not that Bella looked bad. Just that I’d never have paired that pink top with those red pants…
In other Bella news, she’s also figured out how to reach into the toy basket (which I just bought because with the Christmas additions, her toys now needed something to contain them all) to pull out toys to play with. She also managed to stand up holding onto the side of the basket and slide it along for a couple of steps. Now if I can just teach her how to put the toys back in the basket when she’s done playing with them…
Julie D. writes via email:
Hi Melanie,
I couldn’t get your comments to accept this so am emailing them …
I really hated Dies the Fire … keep meaning to blog about it and eventually will get around to it. Not so much for the Wicca which got tiresome but mostly for the fact that he trotted out all the tired old “end of the world” scenarios without doing anything new. As I wasn’t fond of any of the characters there really wasn’t much left to enjoy after the book got about halfway through … though it is in such favor around St. Blog’s that I plodded on to the bitter, predictable end.
I liked Children of Men ok but wasn’t blown away by it. Although I also wasn’t Christian when I read it so that may make a difference. Possibly our Catholic women’s book club will read it as it would make good fodder for discussion.
Cheers!
Julie
Having just seen Children of Men myself, I’m curious: what scene is your sister talking about? Is it something you could mention here without spoiling anything for anyone else? Probably not, but I’m definitely curious now…
Have you ever read A Canticle for Leibowitz? I always think of that book when “distopian” topics come up.
Julie,
I think the comment problem might be if you let too much time elapse between when you started to write the comment and when you attempt to post it. I frequently run into that issue. I just hit the back button on my browser to get back to the page that shows the comment box and then hit the refresh button. Then the comment posts just fine.
I actually read the second book of the series, The Protector’s War, first because it was on hand and the first one wasn’t here yet and I was in the mood for that sort of thing. So Dies the Fire was a different experience for me, filling in the back stories for characters I already knew.
I guess I didn’t feel the books were groundbreaking, but enjoyable. I’m intrigued by the idea of the Change, what ceases to work and how that affects the social fabric. It’s different other apocalyptic scenarios in the way it hits and the kind of response it demands. However, I also enjoy the way Stirling develops the stories. I think its interesting the way the various communities develop, how each one takes its tone from its leader.
Father Barry,
I read Canticle for Leibowitz a long time ago. I think I was in high school. It didn’t leave much of an impression. I don’t think I got it. However, I borrowed it from my mom when I was in Texas and plan to read it soon. I’ll post my impressions when I do.
As for your other question,I’ll answer it below. Those who don’t want to read any further may stop here.
[spoiler alert for Children of Men movie. If you haven’t seen the movie and don’t want it ruined don’t read any further!!!]
(keep in mind I haven’t seen the movie so this is what I recall her saying.) My sister was referring to the scene where they’ve found the child and there’s a firefight going on but they come out and the soldiers realize there’s a baby there. They all stop and some of them even drop to their knees. They are in awe at the mere presence of a baby. The baby is a miracle.
My sister said that her impression was that if the movie had been made by pro-lifers, it might have been a preaching to the chior sort of thing, ignored by those who need to hear the message. She felt that the way this scene played, though, really emphasized what a miracle the child was. It was powerful despite the film maker’s intent, which seemed to hijack the story to make other political points unrelated to the novel’s intent.
Interesting. That’s pretty much the scene I suspected. Myself, it left me frustrated – the conclusion of the scene seems to almost completely undercut the message of the first 9/10th. Which serves as a dramatic reminder that the filmmaker had other interests in mind.
Perhaps my distaste at the film’s overall cynical and (mostly) inexplicably bitter view of the future made it hard for me to appreciate what your sister’s talking about.
As for Canticle, I anxiously await your reactions. I swing back and forth between thinking it’s a modern masterpiece to thinking it’s got no identifiable message. And I spend a lot of time in the middle, as well. Great discussion fodder.